FAQ For Accident Claims and related issues

An "Own Damage (OD) Claim" means you authorise your workshop to file your claims against your own insurance policy for the losses arising from an accident. Typically, your losses include the repair costs of your accident-damaged car and the loss of use when your car is under repair. A "Third Party (TP) Claim" means you authorise your workshop to submit your claims for the losses arising from an accident directly to the Third Party's insurance company.

You may think that you are not the party causing the accident. But, if this accident is not a clear-cut head-to-rear collision where the Third Party collided into the rear of your vehicle or you do not have evidence (such as a witness or CCTV recording that showed the events leading to the accident) that can prove that the Third Party is at fault, it is advisable that you claim against your own insurance policy first and allow your insurance company to carry out subrogated claim against the Third Party's insurance company.

If you insist on claiming against Third Party, in the event where the Third Party's accident report has conflicting facts that can jeopardise your claims, it may be too late for you to convert your claims to your own policy. You may want to check with your insurance company on the grace period that an "OD Claim" can be converted to a "TP Claim". Most insurance companies give a 14-day grace period from the date of reporting.

Firstly, you need to pay the Excess amount to your workshop for the repairs. The Excess amount ranges from $500 to a few thousand dollars depending on your policy. Secondly, your insurance company will immediately remove or reduce your No-Claim Discount (NCD) when it receives the claims submitted by your workshop. lfyour insurance policy happens to be due for renewal over the next few months, you will have to pay the full premium without any or reduced NCD.

There is no impact on you. You don't need to pay the Excess amount to your workshop when your accident-damaged car is repaired. Your NCD will also not be affected. During the period when your accident-damaged car is in the workshop for repairs, you can either choose to have a courtesy car or request your workshop to claim Loss of Use for you. The Loss of Use amount ranges from $50/day to $90/day depending on the make and model of your car.

CDGE is not the party paying you the LOU. We will help you to submit your LOU against the Third Party's insurance company together with the repair costs of your car and any other incidental costs such as LTA search fee, surveyor fee or GIA fee, if any. The Third Party's insurance company will assess our claims and will make an offer to our claims if there are evidences showing that you are not the party causing the accident. If the offer is reasonable and accepted, the Third Party's insurance company will send a cheque to CDGE for the settlement. You will receive the cheque from CDGE within 2 weeks from the date we receive payment from the Third Party's insurance company. The entire process may take up to 3 months.

Depending on the outcome of your claim, if your insurance company can successfully recover your losses through subrogated claim against theThird Party's insurance company, your NCD will be re-instated by your insurance company. lf you are partially liable for causing the accident, your NCD may be only partially re-instated. You may want to clarify this with your insurance company.

You can claim against the Third Party's insurance company if your workshop accepts your case as a "Third Party (TP) Claim". However, ifyour claim against the Third Party fails, you will have to reimburse your workshop any short-fall that is unrecoverable from the Third Party.

This is a common practice to provide assurance to the workshop for the recovery of repair costs from you if your TP claim is not successful. In the Letter of Undertaking, you undertake to reimburse the short-fall amount to the workshop. For example, if the claim amount against the Third Party is $4,500 and the case is settled at 30/70 where you can only recover 30% of your claims, you will have to reimburse the workshop 70% x $4,500 = $3,150. It is unlikely you can revert to "OD Claim" after the case is settled. You may want to check with your insurance company the grace period that you have to convert a "TP Claim" to "OD Claim".

If you are uncertain about signing the Letter of Undertaking, we would suggest you to do "OD Claim" hrst. Thereafter, let your insurance company claim the recovery of your losses from the Third Party's insurance company. Your workshop will help you to submit your repair costs and loss of use against your own insurance policy.

CDGE is a subsidiary company of ComfortDelGro Corporation Ltd - one of the worId’s largest land transport giants. We adhere strictly to the instructions and approval by insurance companies for the crash repairs. Our advanced workshop facilities and highly skilled technicians ensure quality repairs on your beloved car. In addition to using original automotive parts or OEM parts of equivalent quality, we provide a 2-year warranty for paint work - a commitment that no other workshop can give. As a value-added service, we can help to arrange for a rented car at an exclusive rate from ComfortDelGro Rent-A-Car.

Your insurance company will give instructions to CDGE if the repair of your accident-damaged vehicle should be carried out under "Lump Sum" or "Part-by-Part" repair. In simple terms, if your vehicle is more than 3 years old, the repair will be carried out under "Lump Sum" repair where any damaged part that can be repaired should be repaired and any part that needs to be replaced will be replaced with reconditioned or used parts. If your vehicle is less than 3 years old, the repair will most likely be carried out under "Part-by-Part" where those damaged parts that need to be replaced will be replaced with brand new ones.

Accident claim process can be lengthy. For straight-forward claim cases, settlement normally takes 3 to 6 months or even longer. For complicated cases, especially if injury is involved, it may take a few years before the case can be settled.